Dr. Roland Orfaly (L) and Dr. Jeff Rains (R) of the BC Anesthesiologists' Society announce Tuesday, March 13, 2012 that if they are unable to open the lines of communication between themselves, the BCMA and the BC government that they will be withdrawling all elective services as of April 1, 2012.

VANOUVER -- The B.C. government is facing stiff demands from more than 100,000 health care providers now bargaining for better contracts in a climate of wage freezes and cost containment.

Efforts to negotiate a settlement with nearly 11,000 doctors, who were quiet when the government released its budget last month, have failed. They have now agreed to participate in phase two, a conciliation panel chaired by a retired judge.

The union representing B.C. nurses has agreed to a zero wage increase but is demanding the province hire more than 2,000 nurses to remedy what it calls a “dangerous” staff shortage. Adding that many nurses would likely cost the government hundreds of millions of dollars.

Anesthesiologists have for months been in an ugly, public back-and-forth over money and staffing levels. They are threatening to withdraw services for elective surgery on April 1 if they are not allowed a seat at the conciliation table.

The Health Sciences Association, representing more than 17,000 workers, and the Hospital Employees’ Union, which represents more than 45,000, are also in the process of bargaining.

The stormy labour relations climate is creating uncertainty for patients and places big demands on the government, which already spends $17-billion a year on health care.

Health Minister Mike de Jong said he can’t comment on negotiations with doctors, nurses and other health care providers.

“I am not going to negotiate through the media. But there is no question that we are in tight fiscal circumstances and parties have to acknowledge that net zero gains ... are the government’s position.”

The president of the B.C. Medical Association said the physicians have agreed to retain retired Supreme Court of Canada judge Frank Iaccobucci to chair a conciliation panel and have not given up on a settlement.

If that process does not succeed, arbitration would be the last and final step, Dr. Nasir Jetha added.

“We’re trying to reach a meeting of the minds,” Jetha said, noting this is the first time in several years that the BCMA has had to resort to conciliation.

Debra McPherson, president of the B.C. Nurses’ Union, which represents 30,000 nurses, said staff hikes are critical to address the emotional toll on overworked nurses.

“Our members are not confident that they can deliver safe care any more to their clients,” she said.

In long-term care, one registered nurse is often responsible for more than 75 patients, she noted. The shortage of nurses has led to “record high” levels of absenteeism and injury among union members, she said.

McPherson described the nurses’ pleas as “heartbreaking.”

“They tell me that they go home from work crying, that they maybe have to sit in their car for 15 minutes and cry before they can even drive off, that they feel overwhelmed.”

The union has not yet calculated what the new positions might cost the employer, but McPherson said it is incidental next to the potential cost of human life.

The Health Sciences Association, whose members include diagnostic technicians, clinical professionals such as respiratory therapists and rehabilitation workers, want wages that closer reflect their education levels, said association president Reid Johnson.

He noted his members have the second highest level of post-secondary education next to doctors, on average, and hefty workloads that often include being called in a few times a night between regular shifts.

“That’s driving people out of the professions,” he said. “They’re going to go work in a private imaging clinic, or a private lab somewhere, where they only have to do days. That would be more expensive for British Columbians.”

Health sciences professionals in B.C. are paid $6-$10 less per hour than those in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario, he said. “It’s pretty hard to swallow the concept that the government doesn’t want to pay them fairly.”

But it is the anesthesiologists who are grumbling the loudest.

On Tuesday, the BC Anesthesiologists Society signalled it’s still planning to withdraw services as of April 1 if it is barred from participating in the conciliation process. The BCMA insists it should be handling all the bargaining and accused the anesthesiologists of renegade activity.

The anesthesiologists are engaging in “a political and media campaign designed to embarrass the government and compel it to enter into further negotiations on anesthesiology compensation,” said a BCMA briefing note.

The provincial government agrees. “We negotiate with the BCMA and they negotiate on behalf of the specialists,” de Jong said.

The government has filed a formal complaint against the leaders of the anesthesiologists’ society to the doctors’ regulatory body, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of BC.

The complaint, written by deputy health minister Graham Whitmarsh and obtained by The Vancouver Sun, asks the college to “censure” Dr. Jeff Rains, Dr. Roland Orfaly and other members of the BCAS executive.

Orfaly said he doesn’t know anything about the complaint.

In a statement issued Tuesday, the college said it expects the parties will resolve the compensation dispute through ethical and professional negotiations and “avoid using access to care as an issue in a contract dispute.

“If a complaint is filed against a physician regarding unethical practice, the college will investigate the complaint according to its legal authority and due process. The college is not able to comment on any ongoing investigation.”

The health minister said lodging the complaint was an unusual move on the government’s part, taken because of the unusual threat of job action by the specialists.

“I get that people want more money and that anesthesiologists see their counterparts in Alberta getting paid more. I have never disputed that,” he said, noting the average income for anesthesiologists paid on a fee-for-service basis is $340,000 and their overhead costs are not nearly as much as others who have offices to maintain and staff to pay.

He accused the anesthesiologists of being “unprofessional and unethical” for threatening to withdraw services for all but urgent and non-urgent surgical cases.

“Let’s not kid ourselves, this is a dispute over money and the anesthesiologists want to hold patients hostage because of that,” de Jong said.

The BCMA says it has helped anesthesiologists get fee increases of 36.2 per cent over the past 10 years, compared to 22.3 per cent for all other doctors. It says that does not include side deals of $15.6 million for obstetric anesthesia services across the province and a $1.4-million “labour market adjustment” to help with recruitment and retention over the past decade.

Between 2000 and 2010, the number of anesthesiologists in B.C. increased by just over 35 per cent while overall growth in the profession was 23.5 per cent. There are about 475 anesthesiologists in the province.

Anesthesiologists have accused the BCMA and government of being “irresponsible” for not hiring more anesthesiologists to decrease surgical waiting times. The society maintains vacancies in its field are next to impossible to fill because B.C. pays such specialists far less than most other provinces. Orfaly said a poll of members on how many were in favour of service withdrawals showed 80 per cent who voted were in favour.

Comments

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.

Video

Health Videos

Best of Postmedia

Be afraid. Be very afraid. Ignore the diversions in the United States: athletes kneeling or standing during the national anthem; Republicans flailing and failing again on health care; a kick-boxing creationist possibly becoming senator from Alabama. Calamity looms elsewhere. We are hurtling toward war with North Korea. It may be as early as next month. […]

It wasn’t in the middle of a farmer’s muddy field or deep in the boreal forest where the Canadian oilsands truly struck pay dirt. It was inside Fort McMurray’s recreation centre. More than 1,400 oilpatch workers, corporate executives, provincial leaders and the country’s prime minister assembled 21 years ago in northern Alberta to grasp a […]

Google’s powerful search engine is defeating some court-ordered publication bans in Canada and undermining efforts to protect young offenders and victims. Computer experts believe it’s an unintended, “mind-boggling” consequence of Google search algorithms. In six high-profile cases documented by the Citizen, searching the name of a young offender or victim online pointed to media coverage […]

Almost Done!

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.